Author: therawinformant

Score another win for Beyond Meat in the plant-based food wars.

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Stocks extended gains Friday morning, with the Nasdaq jumping about 1%, after a slew of better than expected corporate earnings results from major tech firms. Each of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Netflix hit record highs shortly after market open.

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Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see MetLife…

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Exxon stood out among its supermajor peers for not taking a large writedown on the value of its assets as the industry outlook darkens on the future of oil and gas prices. Chevron Corp, Total , Royal Dutch Shell , and Eni wrote down billions of dollars in assets.

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(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. posted the worst losses in a generation after the pandemic and a global crude glut combined to batter almost every part of their businesses.Exxon’s $1.1 billion second-quarter loss was the deepest in the company’s modern history. A collapse in crude prices bled the company’s production division while Covid-19 lockdowns lowered demand for everything from jet fuel to plastic wrap, hobbling the company’s refining and chemical units.Chevron recorded its weakest performance in at least three decades and warned that the global pandemic wreaking havoc upon energy markets may continue to drag on earnings. Shares of both explorers declined in pre-market trading.Oil has become the poorest-performing sector of U.S. equity markets as a confluence of economic, political and structural threats coalesce to imperil the very foundations of the petroleum industry. Sweeping layoffs, budget cuts and project cancellations haven’t been enough to arrest the industry’s decline as fleeing investors made energy the worst investment in the S&P 500 Index this year.Without the massive trading operations that shielded European oil explorers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SE from losses, Chevron was exposed to the full force of this year’s oil price rout. Notably, Exxon’s nascent trading foray “experienced unfavorable mark-to-market derivative impacts,” the company said.Exxon fell 0.7% to $41.57 in pre-market trading. Chevron declined 3.3%.The U.S. supermajors’ woes are emblematic of the broader threats menacing the petroleum industry in what is turning out to be the deepest crisis of its 161-year history. International titans that raked in record-breaking profits during the first decade of the century have now been reduced to widespread job cuts, belt tightening and heavy borrowing to cover dividends and other outlays.Cost CutsExxon, which earlier this year began taking efforts to reduce its U.S. workforce, said it’s developing plans to further curtail operating expenses, without providing details. The company’s 26-cents per-share loss was better than the 64-cent average loss from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.The worst-ever crude crash came at a vulnerable time for Exxon because it had just embarked on an aggressive, multibillion-dollar rebuilding program. After slashing $10 billion in capital spending and freezing dividends, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods may be running out of levers to pull.On Friday, Woods said that, based on current projections, the company won’t take on any additional debt.Chevron fully erased the value of its Venezuela operations from its books, amounting to $2.6 billion, after they were effectively frozen by U.S. sanctions, and wrote down another $1.8 billion in assets due to lower commodities prices.Even stripping out the impairments, Chevron’s adjusted loss was $3 billion, more than twice the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey and the deepest since at least 1989.“While demand and commodity prices have shown signs of recovery, they are not back to pre-pandemic levels, and financial results may continue to be depressed into the third quarter 2020,” Chevron said in a statement Friday.Venezuela and low prices aside, Chevron also had a one-off charge of $780 million related to its plan to cut 6,000 jobs, or about 13%, of its workforce.Despite the red ink, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth saw an opportunity for expansion amid the rout: the $5 billion, all-stock takeover of Noble Energy Inc. announced less than two weeks ago. The deal comes at a minuscule premium and plugs holes in Chevron’s long-term portfolio, analysts noted.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Shares in social media giant Facebook (FB) soared 6.5% in Thursday’s after-hours trading after the company reported better-than-hoped earning results for the second quarter.Specifically, Q2 GAAP EPS of $1.80 beat Street estimates by $0.40 while revenue of $18.69B also topped Street expectations by $1.33B, and was up 10.7% from the same period last year. Ad revenue was also up 10% at $18.32B (vs. consensus of $16.95B)- and Facebook expects a similar strong rate of growth for the third quarter.Meanwhile daily active users (DAU) surged to 1.79B vs. the consensus of 1.75B- and similarly monthly active users (MAU) of 2.70B easily beat the consensus of 2.63B. That’s with average revenue per user (ARPU) at $7.05, again higher than the expected forecast of $6.63.Also of note, operating income spiked 29% to $5.96B (31.9% margin), with net income almost doubling to $5.18B thanks to a significantly lower effective tax rate.Looking forward, FB trimmed its 2020 Opex outlook by $1B at the high end to $52–55B but said its 2020 Capex would be around $16B ($14–16B prior).Following the report, analysts rushed to reiterate their buy calls on the stock. SunTrust Robinson analyst Youssef Squali has now ramped up his price target from $245 to $285 writing: “We remain bullish on FB and raise our PT to $285 on the back of stronger than expected 2Q20 results, positive commentary, growth stabilization in July, elevated user engagement, and a resilient ad ecosystem.”The analyst calls Facebook’s valuation ‘compelling’ and adds “FB’s auction-based, objective-driven ad platform with the depth and breadth provided by 9M SME advertisers proved its value in 2Q20 in the face of a global pandemic and an ad boycott.”Meanwhile RBC Capital’s Mark Mahaney took his price target all the way from $271 to $320, explaining that Facebook is one of the most resilient internet advertisers out there. “We raise our PT to $320, based on 22x ’22E GAAP EPS of $14.51 and 12x ’22E EBITDA of $69B. Our 3-yr outlook for 20–30% bottom-line growth supports these multiples” the analyst told investors on July 30.Overall, FB scores a bullish Strong Buy Street consensus with 26 recent buy ratings vs just 3 hold ratings. Meanwhile the average analyst price target stands at $265 (13% upside potential). Shares are up 14% year-to-date. (See Facebook stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: PayPal Rises 4% In Extended Trading On 2Q Earnings Beat 3M Disappoints With 2Q Earnings, RBC Capital Sticks To Hold Shopify Soars 10% On Earnings Beat More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Alphabet Up 8% After-Hours Despite First-Ever Revenue Decline * Apple Up 6% After-Hours On Blowout Quarter; Strong iPhone Demand * Amazon Rises 5% As ‘King Of E-Commerce Shines Amidst The Pandemic’ * Exxon Is Said To Prepare Spending, Job Cuts To Save Dividend; Shares Drop

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With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 19.9x Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) may be sending bearish signals at the…

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Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 28% in the last quarter. But that…

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Shares in Alphabet (GOOGL) rose 7.6% in Thursday’s after-hours trading, despite the company posting its first-ever revenue decline.Nonetheless, earnings beat consensus estimates with Q2 GAAP EPS of $10.13 beating by $1.94. Meanwhile revenue of $38.29B dropped -1.7% year-over-year, but still beat Street estimates by $950M.“In the second quarter our total revenues were $38.3B, driven by gradual improvement in our ads business and strong growth in Google Cloud and Other Revenues,” commented Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google. “We continue to navigate through a difficult global economic environment.”Search Revenue declined 10% Y/Y (vs 9% year-over-year growth in Q1), while YouTube Ads Revenue grew 6% year-over-year in Q2 vs 33% in Q1. However, Search Revenue recovered to flat year-over-year at the end of June, with signs of continued modest recovery in July.As for Google Cloud, it delivered $3B in revenue, up 43% year-over-year vs 52% in Q1, with the deceleration partially reflecting the G-Suite price increase last April. Meanwhile TAC (traffic acquisition cost) came in at $6.69B just higher than consensus of $6.67B alongside operating margin of 17% (vs. 15.7% consensus) and Capex of $5.39B (vs $5.42B consensus).Alphabet had ~$13.5B of its prior buyback authorization remaining at the end of 1Q20 and repurchased $6.9B of shares though 2Q quarter. However, the Board has now approved an additional $28B implying it now has a $34.6B authorization available to support the stock if headwinds arise.Following the report, RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney reiterated his buy rating while ramping up the price target from $1,500 to $1,700.“Despite a slightly elongated recovery curve, we continue to see GOOGL (along with AMZN and FB) as among the most resilient ’Net Advertisers” he commented. “Fundamentals are slowly but surely improving, and aggressive share repo continues. We model 8% Gross Revenue growth in Q3 with growth rate close to normalized by Q4 at 15%” the analyst concluded.Similarly, Youssef Squali reiterated his buy rating while boosting his price target from $1,805 to $1,850. “Google continues to be an attractive story at a compelling valuation in our view, despite posting its first ever revenue decline, as trends exiting 2Q and into 3Q suggest an improving demand environment” the analyst explained.While macro uncertainty remains, the pandemic has proven to be a major accelerant to several digitization trends, which Google stands to benefit from long-term, Squali concludes.Overall, Alphabet scores a bullish Strong Buy Street consensus with a $1,668 average analyst price target (8% upside potential). Shares in GOOGL are up 15% year-to-date. (See Alphabet stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Facebook Soars 6% After-Hours On Strong Beat, Ad Resilience Amazon Rises 5% As ‘King Of E-Commerce Shines Amidst The Pandemic’ Shopify Soars 10% On Earnings Beat More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Eli Lilly Drops 5% On Weak 2Q Sales; Analyst Says Hold * Flex Jumps 5% In Extended Trading On Earnings Beat, Upbeat Guidance * Apple Up 6% After-Hours On Blowout Quarter; Strong iPhone Demand * Amazon Rises 5% As ‘King Of E-Commerce Shines Amidst The Pandemic’

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